On February 26, I had the distinct pleasure of joining the Putnam Crew - the Florida Trail Association's volunteer trail maintainer group that takes care of the trail in Putnam County - along with Nels Parson and J.B. Miller of the St. Johns Water Management District office in Palatka, and retired forester Bob Simon to take a hike through Rice Creek Conservation Area [1] off SR 100. The purpose: to quantify a giant cypress to which the crew had just built an observation boardwalk. It was a delight to be a part of this unique experience > here's my article on it [2]. This is one whopping big cypress!